Red-hot shooting of Byard, Cassidy lifts Hornets to district repeat

Friday

Byard was terrific in the opening half, scoring 25 points that included seven made 3-pointers. Cassidy joined in on the fun by pouring in 14 points over the first two quarters.

PELLSTON — When the Pellston boys basketball team won the district title last season, junior Tanner Byard and sophomore Blake Cassidy were just young role players looking to help out.

This year has been quite the transition for the sharp-shooting duo of the Hornets, as they have both taken leadership roles.

In the biggest game of the season up until this point, the two wouldn't disappoint in front of the home crowd.

Instead, they delivered in spectacular fashion.

Byard (31 points) and Cassidy (22 points) combined for 39 first-half points to help the the Hornets build a 54-22 halftime lead and cruise to a 85-53 victory over Mackinaw City in a MHSAA Class D district final rematch on Friday night.

Byard was terrific in the opening half, scoring 25 points that included seven made 3-pointers. Cassidy joined in on the fun by pouring in 14 points over the first two quarters.

"I was waiting for this position and excited to take on the leadership of the team with Blake (Cassidy)," Byard said following the win. "I think we do a great job of leading the team in practice, doing hard work and staying focused on the next goal.

"We all came in ready. If (Mackinaw City) were going to leave me open, I was going to shoot, and that goes for any of us. We kind of just get the best shot as a team, and whatever happens, happens."

The Hornets (15-7), who won their second consecutive district crown, will now host Cedarville in a regional semifinal on Monday at 5:30 p.m. The winner will meet the Brimley-Wolverine semifinal winner in the regional final on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

The first quarter was a dream start for the Hornets, who used their outside shooting and size to open up a 21-6 lead. The Hornets led 27-11 after one.

"The pressure was obviously on us in this district, we were the defending champs and probably the favorite, not by record, and so the way kids came out tonight, shooting the ball, playing aggressive defensively, holding them to 22 points in the first half, there wasn't a whole lot I could say at halftime besides seeing if they could hold them to another 11 points," Pellston coach Larry Cassidy said. "Super proud of the way we came out. We never backed down and really put the game out of reach kind of early.

The Comets outscored the Hornets 29-21 in the third, but it wasn't close enough to overcome Pellston's early dominance.

"(Pellston's first half) was impressive," Mackinaw City coach John Martin said. "The (Tanner) Byard kid and the (Blake) Cassidy kid did exactly what they wanted to do — and they hit everything. It was a backbreaker, I'm not going to lie. We had some high hopes, I thought we had a good plan coming in. Boy, they shot it down in a hurry."

In addition to Byard and Cassidy, the Hornets also received 14 points from Kaleb Rybinski, while Joey Rizzardi scored eight and Jimmy Rizzardi added six.

"When those shots go up — most teams shoot 30 to 40 percent, which we do — but when we get on streaks, I just know they're going in," Cassidy. "When you hit threes like that, they're backbreakers. Obviously there's no secret to what we do, and we've been doing a great job."

"I thought Kaleb (Rybinski) stepped up huge tonight. He got rebounds. He had double-digit rebounds, got to the rim, Joey and Jimmy Rizzardi were huge for us. They all stepped up and played a great game."

For Mackinaw City, senior Jarred Hartman led the way with 19 points, while junior Robert Martin tallied 13. Logan Smith and Kal O'Brien each added nine points. Hunter Malcyznski rounded out the Comets with five.

Mackinaw City finished 12-10 on the season.

"I came into the season with some questions, simply because I lost two kids (Kash O'Brien and Michael Elliott) who were all-state caliber players," Martin said. "You needed people to step up and lead, and I wasn't certain who that was going to be. Again, as a coach, I may overestimate, but I was hoping for a few more than that. Again, we got to a district final game. You put yourself in position of where you want to be, and now we work for next year. I'm pretty satisfied with the year."

The Hornets will get right back at it on Monday in the regional semifinals. The Hornets knocked off Engadine in last year's semifinals, before falling to Hillman in the final.

"(Cedarville) will give us all they got, but it'll be fun," Larry Cassidy said. "When you get to the regional, the competition gets better, and obviously we had a little bit of experience from last year, but yeah, we'll have the advantage on our home court, and hopefully we can shoot it like we've been shooting it."

With regionals at home, Byard said that will be a huge boost for him and his teammates on Monday.

"We just gotta work hard the next two days, get as much work in as we can," Byard said. "We're excited to have districts and regionals at our home court, it helps us a lot from different angles of the game, shooting-wise and other things."

Cedarville was a 66-42 winner over Pickford in its district final on Friday.

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